TO CHEW ON: "King Xerxes asked Queen Esther, 'Who is he? Where is he—the man who has dared to do such a thing?' Esther said, 'An adversary and enem! This vile Haman!' Then Haman was terrified before the king and queen." Esther 7:5,6
The food was delicious. The wine put everyone in a good mood. Now Esther waited for just the right moment to tell the king what she wanted.
Then he said, “Queen Esther, what is your petition? Whatever you want, I’ll give it to you.”
Esther took a deep breath and began, “O king, if I have found favor with you, please spare my life. For I and my people are about to be slaughtered and wiped out.”
Xerxes’ eyes got wide with surprise. “Who would do such a thing?” he demanded.
“The enemy is this vile Haman!” Esther said.
The king looked in horror at Haman. Then he left the room, too angry to speak.
Haman, who minutes before had been talking and laughing was now shaking and pale. He staggered over to where Esther lay on her couch, fell on his knees and begged for his life. That’s how the king saw him when he came back into the room a few minutes later.
Now the sight of Haman so close to Esther made the king even angrier.
“Haman built a seventy-five-foot gallows in his yard,” one of the servants said
“Hang him on it,” Xerxes commanded.
Esther didn’t know how things would turn out when she decided to go to the king. But because of her courage and faith in God, the lives of thousands of Jews were spared.
How do we respond to things that aren’t right and fair? Do we pretend they aren’t there? Do we ignore them because we think they have nothing to do with us? Or do we take action, like Esther did? Let’s ask God to help us take a stand against the unfairness and injustice in our world.
PRAYER: Dear God, please help me to be brave and take a stand against unfairness, injustice and evil. Amen
MORE: Genocide
Killing people because they are a certain race or nationality, like Haman wanted to do to the Jews, is called genocide.
1. Can you think of some modern examples of genocide?
2. Though we probably can’t imagine ourselves being involved in genocide, the feelings that result in killing a whole race of people have small beginnings. Racial discrimination is treating people who have a different skin color, speak a different language and have different customs than we do differently from people who are like us.
Even small actions can be signs of racial discrimination:
- avoiding someone because of the color of their skin.
- making fun of the way they talk.
- not letting them into our group of friends.
Ask God to show you if there is racial discrimination inside you. Pray for God to give you His love for people of every color, nationality and language.
ANSWERS
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Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
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